Hammerwich Parish Council Minutes

16 May 2017

In attendance:

Councillors Wasdell, Mrs Greenway, Campbell, Pullen and Ho

Also in attendance:

4 Members of the public attended the meeting.

Ellen Bird (Clerk)

1. / Apologies for Absence
Mrs A. Turnbull, J. Turnbull, Mrs Smith, Mrs Kirkham and Place.
2. / Declarations of Interest
There Were None.
3. / Election of Chairman
It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Greenway and seconded by Councillor King that Councillor Wasdell be appointed as Chairman of the Parish Council for the 2017/18 municipal year. This was unanimously approved by the Council. No other nominations were received.
Resolved to appoint Councillor Wasdell as Chairman of the Parish Council for 2017/18 the municipal year.
4. / Election of Vice Chairman
It was proposed by Councillor King and seconded by Councillor Cambell that Councillor Mrs Greenway be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for the 2017/18 municipal year. This was unanimously approved by the Council. No other nominations were received.
Resolved to appoint Councillor Mrs Greenway as Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for 2017/18 the municipal year.
5. / Appointments to Outside Bodies
It was agreed that the following Councillors would take up the vacant positions on Outside Bodies
·  Parish Forum - Councillor Wasdell
·  Crime Prevention Panel - Councillor Mrs Greenway
Councillors discussed whether the Parish Council still had a seat on the Youth and Community Centre Committee. Councillor Ho said he was willing to take up this seat if there was a position available. The Chairman agreed to contact the Youth and Community Centre to see if this was possible.
Resolved
To approve the nominations as detailed above and to ask Councillor Wasdell to speak with the Youth and Community Centre to ascertain whether Councillor Ho could take a seat on their Committee on behalf of the Parish.
6. / Approval of the minutes held on 19 April 2017
It was approved by Councillor Mrs Greenway and seconded by Councillor Campbell that the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
Resolved to approve the minutes of 17 April and that these be signed by the Chairman.
7.
a) / Matters Arising
Post Office
The Chairman reported that negotiations between the Post Office, Mrs Dhillon and the WI were ongoing.
b) / Quad Bikers
It was noted that the Police had only been notified of 1 incident with quad bikes on The triangle over the last 18 months.
A heavy duty Chain and padlock had now been put on the gate. Councillor King reported he had notified local residents of progress and had heard that the large petrol quad bike had now been sold.
Resolved to note the update
8. / Chairman's Announcements
It was noted that a large quantity of letters of objection had been delivered to Lichfield District Council, objecting to the proposals to build on greenbelt land near Hammerwich.
Resolved to note the update.
9. / Risk register
Councillors discussed the risk register.
It was proposed by Councillor Campbell and seconded by Councillor Mrs Greenway that the Risk Register be approved.
Resolved that
a) The Parish Council Approve the Risk Register and that;
b) The Clerk bring the report back to a future meeting to ensure its accuracy and explore any required alterations.
10 / Internal Audit Report
Councillors discussed the internal Auditors report and the Asset Register.
Resolved to
a)ask the Clerk to write a report setting out proposals to address the issues raised in the Internal Auditors Report.
b) To note in asset register
c) To ask the clerk to contact the insurers to let them know that only 2 bus shelters required insurance (the third which was being insured currently had been destroyed several years ago and was not to be replaced)
d) to ask the Chairman to discuss the insurance of the Changing Rooms at Hospital road Playing Fields with Lichfield Disterict council and Burntwood Dragons to ensure insurance was being done by Burntwood Dragons as part of the lease agreement.
e) To add Speedwatch equipment to the asset register.
g)To check that the Speedwatch equipment was correctly insured
f) To ask that the insurance documents and asset registers be brought back to a future meeting for further consideration.
11 / Annual Governance Statement 2016/17
The Council considered the Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17 as detailed in the Grant Thornton external audit paperwork.
It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Greenway and seconded by Councillor King that these be approved and signed by the Chairman. This was unanimously approved.
Resolved to approve the Annual Governance Statement 2016/17.
The Annual Governance Statement was signed by the Chairman.
12. / Accounting Statements for 2016/17
The Accounting Statements for 2016/17 were discussed by the Council.
The Clerk reported the figures in the 31 March 2016 column were restated figures from the external auditors last year.
She clarified the figure in box 4 31 March 2017 was 5, 027 as this had not been copied clearly at the printers.
It was proposed by Councillor Campbell and seconded by Councillor Mrs Greenway that the Accounting Statements 2016/17 for Hammerwich Parish Council be approved and the paperwork be signed by the Chairman. This was approved unanimously.
Resolved to approve the Accounting Statements for 2016/17.
The documentation was signed by the Chairman.
13. / Speedwatch
It was noted that dates and areas were being sought.
Councillor King reported he had previously received training on the equipment and was willing to volunteer to operate the equipment when necessary.
Resolved to note the update.
14. / Parks and Open Spaces
Oakfield Park
The Chairman reported he had received a complaint regarding Oakfield Park and the mud on the paths. He had visited the site and also noted a large pot hole in the path.
He also reported that Mr Coulson had kindly agreed to cut the hedge.
Councillor Mrs Greenway queried whether the Land Allocations Policy had earmarked some of Oakfield's Park as housing. Councillor Pullen agreed to take this up with planning officers at Lichfield District Council.
Resolved to
a) ask the Clerk to contact Lichfield District Council regarding cleaning the paths and repairing the pothole.
b) ask Councillor Pullen to discuss the land allocation at Oakfield Park with Planning Officers at Lichfield District Council and to report back to a future meeting.
Allotments
Although the Parish did not currently have any allotments Councillor Mrs Greenway asked the Council to support her in going on the recently advertised Staffordshire Parish Council Association allotment course to establish whether there was potential for the Council to develop allotments for the Parish.
Resolved to approve Councillor Mrs Greenway attending a course on allotments.
15. / Highways and Footpaths
Potholes
It was noted that there had been several repairs across the Parish but problems remained at:
·  Haney Hay road
·  The Triangle traffic island
·  Ogley Hay Road
Resolved to ask the Clerk to report these
16. / Social Media
It was agreed that in order to reach a wider audience the Parish Council should develop a social media presence.
It was noted that Councillor Place had already set up a Hammerwich Parish Council Facebook Page. It was felt that this should be run by the Clerk and that the Clerk should be given all editing controls for these pages.
Resolved to
a) ask the Clerk to set up a twitter page for the Parish, and ;
b)to ask Councillor Place to relinquish all editing rights on the Hammerwich Parish council Facebook page to the Clerk.
17. / Planning Applications
There were none.
18. / Public Participation
Following a proposal from Councillor Mrs Greenway which was seconded by Councillor Campbell it was resolved to suspend standing orders.
Oakfield's Park
A local resident echoed concerns made earlier in the meeting regarding the mud on the pavements in Oakfield's Park.
The Chairman informed her the Council had already agreed to ask Lichfield District Council for quotes to address this.
The resident asked whether a sign could be put up with the name of the park on it. Councillors supported this idea.
She reported that both the dog bins had been knocked over and that the litter bin was rotten.
Resolved that the Chairman be asked to conduct a site visit to look at the bins and to establish where a sign could be easily placed.
Footpath Works
Mr Coulson, a local resident reported on the work he had done on behalf of the Parish on the footpaths in the area. It was noted that the Coppice Lane stile had been repaired but may need replacement in the future.
Resolved to thank Mr Coulson for all his work.
Health Centre
A local resident queried whether there had been any further news regarding the Health Centre. It was noted that the Spires Practice was now the Darwin Practice and that there were some changes to the appointment process.
Petition Regarding Highfields Road
A local resident expressed his disappointment at reports in the press of the unsatisfactory response from Lichfield District Council following the submission of many letters of objection to the proposals for development of Greenbelt Land within the Parish.
Councillor Pullen informed the Council that he was planning on writing to Lichfield District Council's Chief executive regarding this issue.
Resolved to ask Councillor Pullen to include the concerns of local residents and the Parish Council regarding the way the letters of objection were received in his letter to Lichfield district Council's chief executive and agreed to report back to a future meeting.
Councillor Mrs Greenway Proposed and Councillor King seconded a proposal to reinstate Standing Orders and it was resolved to do so.
19. / Correspondence received and sent
The Councillors noted the correspondence received and sent since the last meeting which was reported by the Clerk.
Resolved to note the correspondence received and sent since the last meeting.
20 / Accounts for Payment
The balance of the Community Account ( Statement for 08 April to 09 May 2017) of
£60, 755.07 was noted
The Parish Council were asked to approve the following payments at their meeting on 17 May 2017:
Cost / Invoice No / Cheque Number
Clerk's Wages May 2017 / £384.43 / EB3/17/18 / 100996
Clerk's additional hours worked to complete audit papers April 2017
(14 hours @ £14.24) / £199.36 / EB4/17/18 / 10997
D.L.Jones (Hospital Road Playground Clearance) / £1050 / 2731 / 100998
Staffordshire Playing Fields Association / £15 / - / 100999
JMI Planning (Neighbourhood Plan) / £1020 / 177 / 101000
Black Rose Solutions Ltd (Internal Auditor) / £128.04 / HPC001 / 101001
Parish Online (Cheque to Get Mapping) / £67.20 / POL-2017-41ud013
The Parish Council are asked to note the following income:
Source / Amount / Reference
Lichfield District Council Precept Payment 17/18
(including Council Tax Support Grant of £3177) / £29510 / 1413132
Resolved to
a) reject the payment to Parish Online as they did not feel they required this service any longer to progress the Neighbourhood plan
b) To approve all other accounts for payment
c) to note that Councillor Campbell would endeavour to be reimbursed from Locality the JMI Planning payment as this was for work done on the Neighbourhood Plan.
21 / Items For Discussion at Future Meetings
Councillor Campbell requested that the Neighbourhood Plan be added to a future meeting's agenda.

Meeting ended 9.05pm

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